In February 2022, Ukraine requested an urgent decision from the International Court of Justice ordering Russia to halt all military action after its invasion that same month. The request was made on the basis of a dispute relating to the interpretation, application and fulfilment of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

Russia claimed that acts of genocide had occurred in the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts of Ukraine, which was the basis for launching what it called a special military operation against many cities in Ukraine.

Ukraine emphatically denied that such genocide had occurred and sought to establish that Russia had no lawful basis to take action in and against Ukraine for the purpose of preventing and punishing any purported genocide.

In this episode, Edinburgh Law School’s Professor Nehal Bhuta is in conversation with Professor Harold Hongju Koh of Yale Law School about Professor Koh’s experience as part of the international team of lawyers arguing on behalf of Ukraine in the suit filed against Russia at the International Court of Justice in the Hague in March 2022.

About Edinburgh Law School: In Conversation

Edinburgh Law School In Conversation is a podcast series where members of Edinburgh Law School sit down with notable visitors to learn more about their work and experiences.